Team Beta Force: Countdown
by DorkKnight16
Summary: This is the story of a super heroine and her team. This is the story of how they became what they are today. This is a story about a girl and the Avengers. This is my story.
1. First Impressions

First Impressions

Most people will never know me by my name. Most people will never see me in 'normal' clothes. Most people will never see my face unobscured. Most people will never recognize me, and yet most of the world has seen me before.

This is my story, my life, on display for you to read. Maybe one of you will understand and connect with me. Maybe I'll finally be able to tell the world what I really am.

I am a Superheroine.

I fight crime, injustice and villains. I defend and protect earth on a daily basis. I work with others to protect the innocent.

I am Human.

If you ever think that we superheroes have it easy, you're wrong. I don't know about everyone, but most of us are human. We have been hurt, wronged, and we have suffered. This is what drives us to be who we are. It doesn't make it any easier.

I am a Mutant.

I will protect my mutant brothers and sisters. My gifts will be used for the good of others. I will show you that we are all the same, despite the way we look.

And this is my story.

Ottawa has always been my home, and always will be. I grew there. I was homeschooled until grade 9, when I went to High School. I began developing mutant powers, but they never manifested themselves. For a year, all I could do was see energy, either it was in the form of batteries or things in motion, but I could never do anything with them.

2 weeks into grade 10, I was abducted. Nobody knew except for my parent, the RCMP and Weapons X Facility, the people who abducted me. I never talk about what happened there, but I will say that they successfully completed their mission: To make my mutant gifts a physical thing I could use. I escaped 6 months later along with another experiment at the facility. His name was Aidan, and he was my age. Neither of us like to talk about what happened there, but we stuck together.

I could now manipulate all the different kinds of energy around me, including electricity, sound, heat and light. Aidan and I were both hired by Division H of the RCMP. (H of course standing for heroes)

Along with other teenagers, we form a younger version of Alpha force. Because of my past associations, I was put in a leadership position, in order for the government to keep an eye on me.

Most of the team members were people I knew. This was also a way to keep an eye on me. I couldn't let them get hurt, therefore, I would not make rash decisions.

First, there was Aidan. At 18 years, he had a bionic eye that allowed him to make shot with supreme accuracy. His codename was Trickster. Jess was 18 as well. She was an archer, and a fantastic one at that. Her codename was Bolt. My friend Rachel was 16 turning 17. She was a telepathic mutant, with the codename Spade. Caleb, a 16 year-old, genius was codenamed Fusion, or Fuse for short. My other friend Hannah, had a set of mechanical wings that allowed her to fly, hence her codename Night Hawk. Alexa, a half Canadian half Russian and previous spy, was 16 as well. Her codename was Atrax, a type of poisonous spider. She was our version of Black Widow.

And there's me. I'm also 18. My codename is Spark, or Sparkie, as I'm jokingly referred to. And together, we're not much. We are a team, but that's about it. I like to think that we are pretty awesome, but compared to all the other superhero teams, we're pretty lame. We are a team.

I have a Team.

We aren't just a team. We're a dysfunctional family. I'm the mother, Caleb is the nerd, Rachel's the musician, Hannah is the peace keeper, Jess and Aidan are the twins and Alexa is the goth kid.

I have a Family.

Most importantly, and last of all,

I am Me.


	2. No Second Chances

div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.399999618530273px; text-align: center; text-indent: 36pt;" align="center"span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 14pt;"No Second Chances/span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.399999618530273px; text-indent: 36pt;" /div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.399999618530273px; text-indent: 36pt;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif;""Come on! We need to help them!" cried Jess, an arrow already on the string. She pointed to a large military style building sitting below us. From our cliff side position, I could see two groups of people fighting each other. The smaller group wore colourful costumes, and they seemed to easily take the advantage. I shrugged and rolled my eyes./span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.399999618530273px;" /div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.399999618530273px; text-indent: 36pt;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif;""I'm pretty sure the Avengers will survive without us" I replied, watching the scene play out below us. /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.399999618530273px;" /div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.399999618530273px; text-indent: 36pt;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif;"A garage door on the side of the building suddenly opened. I leaned forward to see what it was. The larger group of people, Hydra agents, backed away from the door and the Avengers as something came out of the door./span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.399999618530273px;" /div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.399999618530273px; text-indent: 36pt;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif;"A black rocky creature roared and claws sprung out from its fists. I almost fell of the cliff when I saw what it was. It was something I had desperately hoped never to see again: /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.399999618530273px;" /div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.399999618530273px; text-indent: 36pt;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif;"Project Delta./span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.399999618530273px;" /div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.399999618530273px; text-indent: 36pt;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif;"My team gathered around me as I stood. A long legged, black-garbed figure dropped from a tree to my left./span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.399999618530273px;" /div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.399999618530273px; text-indent: 36pt;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif;""Take that back?" Aidan asked, straightening up from his dramatic tree jumping. I turned around just in time to see Project delta send Hawkeye, the archer, fly into a nearby spruce. /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.399999618530273px; text-indent: 36pt;" /div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.399999618530273px; text-indent: 36pt;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif;"I turned to look at my team. Jess already had an arrow ready, Caleb was checking energy readings from the building, Hannah had her wings out, Alexa had her daggers, Sara was making it snow and Rachel looked rearing to go. /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.399999618530273px; text-indent: 36pt;" /div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.399999618530273px; text-indent: 36pt;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif;""Fine." I sighed. "Aidan, take Caleb down. Sara, take Alexa, Rachel, and Jess down slowly" I cautioned. "Hannah, you'll take me down. Aidan, Caleb, Hannah and I will go after Delta. Hannah, you'll be providing protection for Caleb while he figures out the correct frequency. Aidan and I will provide distraction in the meanwhile. The rest of you, get rid of those hydra agents."/span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.399999618530273px; text-indent: 36pt;" /div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.399999618530273px; text-indent: 36pt;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif;"The team nodded and ran off in the respective groups. Hannah picked me up under my arms and I surrounded us both in a bubble of protection. It made the ride much smoother if she wasn't constantly swerving to avoid enemy shots. /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.399999618530273px; text-indent: 36pt;" /div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.399999618530273px; text-indent: 36pt;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif;"We arrived on the scene seconds later. Hannah let me go before my feet had touched the ground so I got running starts. I raced towards Project Delta. Its back was turned to me so I shot some bolts of lightning it its general attention. I quickly looked to my left and spotted Aidan running alongside me two twin pistols in his hands. /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.399999618530273px; text-indent: 36pt;" /div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.399999618530273px; text-indent: 36pt;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif;"Project Delta turned around and roared. Aidan and I quickly halted, and I threw up a shield just as Delta shot his poison quills at us. They bounced harmlessly off the shield before sizzling on the grass. I gulped. /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.399999618530273px; text-indent: 36pt;" /div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.399999618530273px; text-indent: 36pt;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif;"Aidan distracted the monster, riddling it with bullets that merely bounced off his thick skin I quickly began pulling energy from some specific sources. The batteries stored in my utility belt, the emergency generator inside the building, and the power lines beneath the ground. Little ribbons of pure energy floated aimlessly towards my hands. I pulled harder and the strands became thick like rope. After a minute, I had taken all the energy I needed. I let go of the excess energy. I pushed all of the stored up energy in my body into my hands and began squeezing in into a tight ball. /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.399999618530273px; text-indent: 36pt;" /div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.399999618530273px; text-indent: 36pt;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif;""Melanie! The frequency is 22 hertz! "Caleb yelled through my ear comm. I nodded. Aidan moved away from distracting Delta, and I rushed at the monster. I threw the ball at him and it stuck on his skin. I somersaulted away from his claws and then lightly touched the energy again, adding just a bit so it would be at the right frequency. I quickly dove away then threw up an area wide shield over everyone, including those who were fighting the hydra agents and the Avengers. /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.399999618530273px; text-indent: 36pt;" /div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.399999618530273px; text-indent: 36pt;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif;"I made it to the side of the building before collapsing. There was nowhere else I could draw energy from without endangering the mission or any other people. /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.399999618530273px; text-indent: 36pt;" /div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.399999618530273px; text-indent: 36pt;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif;"Aidan quickly ran over, his hair messy from running circles around Delta. He was quickly followed by Rachel and Jess. /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.399999618530273px; text-indent: 36pt;" /div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.399999618530273px; text-indent: 36pt;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif;"Jess reached a hand down. I quickly grabbed it and she pulled me up. Captain America slowed his jog and stopped beside us, Iron Man gently landing beside him. /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.399999618530273px; text-indent: 36pt;" /div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.399999618530273px; text-indent: 36pt;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif;"Rachel ignored them, tossing me a pack of 10 D batteries wrapped with a rubber band. I quickly pulled the energy from them, disintegrating the batteries. My breathing slowed and my head stopped spinning. I threw her back the rubber band and offered a weak smile./span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.399999618530273px; text-indent: 36pt;" /div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.399999618530273px; text-indent: 36pt;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif;"Aidan turned to face Iron Man and Cap. /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.399999618530273px; text-indent: 36pt;" /div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.399999618530273px; text-indent: 36pt;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif;""Can we help you with something?" He asked, a snarl on his face. I glared at him/span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.399999618530273px; text-indent: 36pt;" /div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.399999618530273px; text-indent: 36pt;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif;""Aidan, is something wrong?" I asked, confused. He gestured to the rest of the team standing a ways off…and they were surrounded by the other Avengers. I sighed and turned to cap./span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.399999618530273px; text-indent: 36pt;" /div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.399999618530273px; text-indent: 36pt;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif;""Is there a reason you aren't allowing my team to leave?" I questioned, crossing my arms. The Captain nodded./span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.399999618530273px; text-indent: 36pt;" /div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.399999618530273px; text-indent: 36pt;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif;""When an unknown group of teenage Meta's defeats a creature that not even Hulk can smash, it's something we'd like to look into." He deadpanned./span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.399999618530273px; text-indent: 36pt;" /div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.399999618530273px; text-indent: 36pt;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif;""When a Canadian governmental agency gets 'looked into' by a team of super vigilantes, it's something Alpha force is going to look into." I retorted./span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.399999618530273px; text-indent: 36pt;" /div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.399999618530273px; text-indent: 36pt;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif;""Stark, you told me that they were just a bunch of Meta teens." Cap questioned/span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.399999618530273px; text-indent: 36pt;" /div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.399999618530273px; text-indent: 36pt;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif;""That's what my research said." Stark retorted./span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.399999618530273px; text-indent: 36pt;" /div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.399999618530273px; text-indent: 36pt;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif;""Your research sucks." Jess commented./span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.399999618530273px; text-indent: 36pt;" /div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.399999618530273px; text-indent: 36pt;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif;""Yeah, well your skills are lame compared to Hawkeye's" He retorted back./span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.399999618530273px; text-indent: 36pt;" /div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.399999618530273px; text-indent: 36pt;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif;""Well, your skills are lame compared to Caleb's" She replied gesturing to our shocked teammate. /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.399999618530273px; text-indent: 36pt;" /div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.399999618530273px; text-indent: 36pt;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif;""Yeah well-"/span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.399999618530273px; text-indent: 36pt;" /div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.399999618530273px; text-indent: 36pt;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif;""-Enough, both of you!" I cried out, frustrated. Everyone turned and looked at me. "For goodness sakes, we just saved your hides! The least you could do would let us go without a fight." /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.399999618530273px; text-indent: 36pt;" /div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.399999618530273px; text-indent: 36pt;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif;"I felt our comms turn on, the mechanical voice stating that we needed to return to base. It meant trouble. /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.399999618530273px; text-indent: 36pt;" /div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.399999618530273px; text-indent: 36pt;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif;""Back to the Goose !" Jess said, leaving a very confused Iron Man. /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.399999618530273px; text-indent: 36pt;" /div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.399999618530273px; text-indent: 36pt;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif;""That's our Jet" I explained. "Look, I'm sorry, but we've been called back to base, so you and Jess will have to finish this later." /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.399999618530273px; text-indent: 36pt;" /div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.399999618530273px; text-indent: 36pt;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif;"Tony sighed. "Okay, but later." Jess nodded. My team did not look very happy at all as we trudged back to where the Goose was hidden in the woods./span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.399999618530273px; text-indent: 36pt;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; font-size: x-small;" /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.399999618530273px; text-indent: 36pt;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 14pt;"No one was looking forward to being back at base./span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.399999618530273px; text-indent: 36pt;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 14pt;"br /spanspan lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 14pt;"I was in Trouble./span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.399999618530273px; text-indent: 36pt;" /div 


	3. Third Times the Charm

Third Times the Charm

"So, what are we supposed to tell out parents? That we got in trouble with the government? What about our friends who know? What will they do to them?" Alexa questioned angrily as the jet took off.

I saw Hannah tense up in the cockpit. I knew we were going to have this conversation more then once.

" I don't know, Alexa, I just don't know." I reply while scanning thought the data from HQ

" Then maybe you shouldn't be our leader."

The group tensed as one. Finally the question was out.

" Your right, maybe I shouldn't be. Trust me, I asked." I said calmly, looking up from my tablet. "Unfortunately, a leadership position is the best way for them to keep an eye on me and a leash on Aidan" I turned back to the data scrolling across my screen.

Silence ensued for a while, the thrum of the engines lulling us into a tense quiet.

Finally Aidan spoke up. "Am I the only person even slightly excited that we got to meet the Avengers?" He asked

We all thought about it for a minute.

"Yeah, I mean Mel, now that I think about it, you should be super hyper right now." Said Jess, smirking.

I blushed. "And I didn't even get his autograph!" I joked. Rachel smiled.

"I bet Caleb and Bruce would be the best of friends" Aidan added, patting Caleb on the head.

"And Aidan and The Big Guy will be Besties" Caleb deadpanned.

"Jess and Hawkeye, would have archery contest all the time!" Rachel grinned.

"Hannah, you have to be better than Falcon." Jess grinned.

Hannah smiled, her eyes alight. "Of course! Somebody's got to do it! What about Mel? "

"Captain America is all mine." I interjected, causing everyone to laugh hysterically. "But then Alexa and Widow...But not in a romantic way, of course" I quickly added.

Alexa looked up. "We have a history. Schafer and Stark." She said before looking down and polishing the barrel of her pistol.

Caleb's face lit up. "I wish I could meet Pepper Potts, she is so cool!"

"I know! She is such a power house!" Rachel added, excited.

"Told you!" Aidan said grinning. I nodded.

I was Very Hyper

When we got back to base, we were herded into a small conference room. The tv screen on the opposite end was emblazoned with the Division H symbol as well as two words we all feared.

The Director

He was a mysterious man, none of us had ever seen his face before. He was cold, cruel and ruthless. Not a man we wanted to trifle with.

We sat down in the chairs.

"Congratulations agents, you almost started WWIII." The scratchy computer modified voice filled the room, along with the harsh sound of clapping.

"WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?" I winced at the harsh noise. "This is all your fault Lefebvre!"

"I beg to differ sir. We were merely following orders." I calm replied.

"STOP DISRESPECTING ME, AGENT!" He bellowed. "Thankfully I've got friends on the other side who were able to arrange something and keep it down on the media. We are sending you off for training. You're too incompetent to be left untethered. You'll have one week at home before we send you to Avengers base for training."

He continued over mutterings and gasps from the team. "This incident is the first strike. Two more and I will not hesitate to send you back to where you came from, is that clear?"

"Very clear sir." I replied, and then the screen went blank.

I looked around at my team. They all looked equally shocked. Alexa glared at me.

"This is all your fault!" She yelled before running out of the room. Caleb stood up and slowly left, pity evident on his face. I glanced at Jess, who gave me a curt nod before she left, Rachel trailing lethargically behind her. Hannah got up and gave me a hug before leaving Aiden and I in the silence.

After what seemed like ages, Aiden finally looked up.

"Two more chances. Two more mess-ups and were back." I muttered, closing my eyes in an effort to block the memories.

"We got out once, we can get out again." Aiden replied, walking over to me.

"Logan is gone. He was the only reason we were ever able to escape." I mumbled, tears starting to flow at the unbidden memories.

I buried my head in his shoulder. Somehow, we got into his truck and he drove me back to my dorm.

Zoe (My room mate) was there when I arrived. She gave me a hug and some Chai tea. We talked long into the night.

I was scared.


	4. Four King and Country

Four King and Country

A week later, we clambered down the stairs of the small plane, suitcases, bags, and backpacks in tow. To everyone else on the small base we must have looked like septuplets, considering the grey uniforms we wore and the identical bags we carried.

Caleb and Aidan quickly went inside the small locker room to change, while the ladies got ready in the slightly larger conference room.

In order to distinguish our back packs from each other, I'd bought everyone a different key chain. I squeezed mine, a yellow lightning bolt, before pulling on the grey tunic and plum leggings that were the base of my suit.

Glancing around, I noticed that Alexa was already dressed, her black cat suit zipped up and her emergency pistol in her holster. Man, she was fast!

I pulled on my black ankle boots and buckled my plum belt before putting my hair in a braid and attaching my black leather bracers.

"Could you put this in my bag?" Rachel asked me as she pointed to her notebook. I nodded and placed the notebook inside, pulling on the spade key chain I'd bought her to zip it up.

"Thanks." Rachel said as she tugged her burgundy maxi skirt from underneath the silver scale armor she wore.

"No problem!" I nodded.

I winced as a sudden, loud honking noise filled the room. We all glared at Hannah.

"Sorry!" She said, zipping up her fly suit. I'd made the grave mistake of buying her a key chain that made geese noises, in honour of our jet's nickname. Seeing as Hannah was our only legal pilot, it had seemed a good idea at the time.

"I'll be at the Goose!" I announced, swinging my backpack onto my left shoulder.

"Wait, I'm coming!" Jess said as she caught up to me, her arrow key chain clinking with her every step.

I smiled, reaching over to untwist her quiver's shoulder strap.

"Thanks." She said gratefully.

"No problem!" I replied, heaving the door open, sunlight glinting merrily off of the jet.

We tossed our bags onto the pavement beside the Goose, and began wheeling over the large equipment filled boxes over to the hold.

Caleb came out, white lab coat swaying merrily over his bulletproof vest and Kevlar pants. He set down his backpack, ( it had a test tube key chain) and a metal briefcase filled with multiple types of chemicals.

As Caleb was opening the hatch, Aidan came out, his Khaki pants' pockets already with extra weapons and clips The rest of the girls came out and wheeled the cargo into the plane while Aidan Jess and I tied everything down securely.

Once everything was inside and the other team members were sitting down inside, I stood up and awkwardly cleared my throat.

"So team, today we are about to leave Canada. I know it's seems very boring, trust me, It won't. This year is going to be hard for all of us, but I think that if we stick together as a team, we'll make it through. Think about it this way. It's a year for us to grow, make connections and become closer as a team. When we come back, we'll be adults, able to handle life and the problems that come with it."

"Yeah, that's right, isn't it! And we-" Aidan blurted

"Aidan, no interrupting my pep talk!" I said jokingly.

"Sorry" Alexa mumbled from the back, and the rest of the team laughed.

"As I was saying, we'll be able to make our own decisions. We'll know people, and the public will follow us. He'll be able to have safe places, a haven in the storm. But we can only do this as a team." I finished.

"Team?" I asked, my hand extended to the only people I ever considered my real "Family"

"The reply came back loud and strong, fists uniting in the air. "BETA!"

We were a team.

The rest of the flight was spent in relative silence. Jess and Aidan talked quietly while they played the newest game on Aidan's portable x-box, while Alexa studied the files that we had been given. Caleb and Hannah sat up in the cockpit, Rachel grooved to some tunes on her iPod, and I watched Return of the king on my laptop.

I must have fallen asleep along the way, because next thing I know, Orlando bloom's name was rolling across my screen and the Goose was taxing into a hanger on Avengers base. I quickly shut my computer down.

"All rigth folks, we are stopped. Feel free to exit the plane…at your own risk" Caleb said creepily into the speaker.

I walked up to the cockpit, holding onto the back of Hannah's chair. Anticipation and hesitation surged through my veins.


	5. Five Thirty

div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff; text-align: center;" align="center"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 19.9733px;"5:30/span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff; text-align: center;" align="center" /div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff; text-align: center;" align="center"strongspan lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 19.9733px;"* For those of you who do not know, this title is a reference to the song 5:30 by Robert Downey Junior, the actor who plays Iron Man/span/strong/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff; text-align: center;" align="center" /div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff; text-indent: 36pt;"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"The plane glided into the empty hangar smoothly. We all stood up nervously as Caleb opened the door./span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff; text-indent: 36pt;"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;" /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff; text-indent: 36pt;"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;""Out you go!" He said cheerily to me, I sighed. The things I do for my team. I walked down the ramp, attempting to ooze confidence and coolness. I feigned disinterest as I glanced around the relatively small hangar./span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff; text-indent: 36pt;"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;" /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff; text-indent: 36pt;"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;""Hi" I said nervously as my gaze fell upon earths mightiest heroes. The Avengers turned around, and silence fell./span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff; text-indent: 36pt;"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;" /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff; text-indent: 36pt;"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"I pause my narrative here to explain something. It was odd, seeing them in civilian clothes, sorrow like seeing Johnny Depp without Jack's hat, or Orlando bloom's hair on Legolas's head. Unnerving, so say the least./span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff; text-indent: 36pt;"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;" /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff; text-indent: 36pt;"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;""Guess we missed the dress code!" Aidan chuckled behind me, pointing to his suit. I noticed one of the Avengers rolling his eyes./span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff; text-indent: 36pt;"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;" /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff; text-indent: 36pt;"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;" "Hi yeah great, where's the Everdeen arrow shooting girl child thing?" Tony Stark asked, slightly distracted./span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff; text-indent: 36pt;"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;" /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff; text-indent: 36pt;"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;""Are you always this articulate?" Jess smirked as she held out her hand./span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff; text-indent: 36pt;"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;""Tony Stark."/span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff; text-indent: 36pt;"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;" /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff; text-indent: 36pt;"span style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 36pt;""Jessica Tyler."/span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff; text-indent: 36pt;"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;" /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff; text-indent: 36pt;"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"Tony turned to look at me. "You're the leader, right"/span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff; text-indent: 36pt;"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;" /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff; text-indent: 36pt;"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"I nodded, confused./span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff; text-indent: 36pt;"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;" /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff; text-indent: 36pt;"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;""I found her, Steve!" Tony said, gesturing to me./span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff; text-indent: 36pt;"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;" /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff; text-indent: 36pt;"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;""I know Tony, I can see." A fairly tall and muscular blonde man stepped forward./span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff; text-indent: 36pt;"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;" /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff; text-indent: 36pt;"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;""Steve Rogers, Captain America."/span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff; text-indent: 36pt;"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;" /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff; text-indent: 36pt;"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"I grinned. "Melanie Lefebvre, Spark." I replied as we shook hands./span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff; text-indent: 36pt;"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;" /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff; text-indent: 36pt;"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;""This is Aidan," I said, pointing to the waving boy, "Hannah,"/span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff; text-indent: 36pt;"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;" /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff; text-indent: 36pt;"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;""Hi!" She said shyly./span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff; text-indent: 36pt;"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;" /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff; text-indent: 36pt;"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;""Caleb," I continued, while Caleb merely nodded. "Rachel," I said pointing to the arm slung around my shoulder, "And this is Alexa." I added, glancing back at our LRS (Little Russian Spy) She looked up and slid her phone into her pocket./span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff; text-indent: 36pt;"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;" /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff; text-indent: 36pt;"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;""Eh, what? Oh, sorry." She said picking something off her suit./span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff; text-indent: 36pt;"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;" /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff; text-indent: 36pt;"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"One of the Avengers, Black widow, I assumed, stared at Alexa, eye's narrowed dangerously./span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff; text-indent: 36pt;"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;" /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff; text-indent: 36pt;"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;""Rhaul." She growled out. Alexa's head snapped up at the sound of her name, her eyes hardening./span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff; text-indent: 36pt;"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;" /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff; text-indent: 36pt;"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;""Romanoff." She said curtly, flipping her long black hair over her shoulder with a flair of pizzas./span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff;"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;" /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff;"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;""Well, that's Natasha, and I'm Clint, aka Hawkeye." Said the brown haired man next to her, his eyes lit up with amusement./span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff;"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;" /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff;"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;""I'm Wanda, Scarlet Witch." A young brunette smiled./span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff;"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;" /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff;"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;""Sam Wilson, Falcon"/span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff;"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;" /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff;"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;""Rhodes."/span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff;"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;" /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff;"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;""Bruce Banner" Said the last person, he seemed a little standoffish,/span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff;"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;" /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff;"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;""Hulk" Tony pointed and Bruce. That explained why./span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff;"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;" /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff;"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;""Nice to meet you all." I said smiling,/span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff;" /div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff;"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"I think at that point Wanda realized that Stark was never getting past the hangar door./span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff;"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;""Do you want to see your rooms? "She asked, tucking a stray brown curl behind her ear./span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff;" /div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff;"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;""Yeah, that would be great. And I'd really like to change out of this sticky thing." I said gesturing to my outfit./span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff;" /div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff;"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"Caleb, Wilson, Aiden and Cap grabbed the bags from the jet, carrying them with ease. Wanda opened a door that led to a short lighted tunnel. When we came out of the tunnel, we found ourselves in a small circular room. 16 alcoves with small lights were placed around the room. 7 of them were empty, while the rest held the Avengers suits./span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff;" /div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff;"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;""This is our 'ready' room. Once you've changed you can put your suits in here." Tony gestured to the empty alcoves while breezing past us into the next room./span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff;" /div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff;"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;""This is the kitchen / living room. Our rooms are that way" Tony pointed down a hallway to the left. "The Gym, Lab, computer and gaming room, rec rooms, whatever, are that way" This time he pointed down the right hallway. "And you guys are up those princess stairs." He said, gesturing to the spiral staircase in the corner./span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff;" /div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff;"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"Everything around us was neat and polished, an almost timeless style. When we got upstairs, it was a different story. A large spacious room with carpet and pastel bean bag chairs opened up into a medium sized kitchenette, which included a fully sized fridge. A shelf filled with various movies and video games immediately caught Aidan's attention./span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff;" /div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff;"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"Wanda smiled. She was the only one who'd come upstairs with us. "Your rooms all open up into this main space." She pointed to a pale lilac door. "That one's yours" she smiled. I quickly walked over and opened the door, fully expecting a typical hotel style room./span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff;" /div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff;"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"Boy, was I wrong./span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff;"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"Three of the walls were a pale blue, the fourth wall (where the door was) was painted a pale graphite grey colour. The furniture was all dark cholate wood./span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff;" /div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff;"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"I flopped on the twin bed in the former, almost drowning in the fluffy grey comforter and purple accent pillows. I glanced around from my comfortable position on the bed. There was a large closet, a desk, and a bedside table as well. But it was the large package sitting on my desk that caught my attention./span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff;" /div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff;"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"I hopped up, and open the box carefully. I pulled out a grey iPhone, a pair of metallic purple headphones, a purple charger, a grey case, a small, hand sized tablet (lavender) and a laptop, also in lavender. I couldn't believe it! I'd never had so many electronics before!/span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff;" /div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff;"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;""Do you like it?" Wanda asked, as she entered the room./span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff;" /div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff;"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;""I love it!" I said, spinning around with a huge grin./span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff;" /div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff;"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;""Great! Your room was probably the hardest."/span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff;" /div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff;"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;""Well, I love the colour scheme and the bed and everything!" I grinned./span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff;"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"She smiled back" Do you want something to drink?" Wanda asked as we walked out of the room and into the common area./span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff;" /div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff;"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;""That would be great….do you have any tea?" I asked hopefully./span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff;" /div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff;"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"Wanda giggled "Do I ever, it's all downstairs though." She said, practically pulling me down the stairs. No one else was in sight when we got downstairs. Wanda opened a cupboard and pulled a large basket outfit was filled to the brim with different types of tea./span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff;" /div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff;"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"Wanda selected a red baggie. "You have to try this. David's Tea came up with a tea for every Avenger. Mine is Apple cinnamon Chai tea."/span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff;" /div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff;"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;""Ohm that sounds great! I'll have some too!/span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff;"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"_/span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff; text-indent: 36pt;" /div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff; text-indent: 36pt;"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;" A few minutes later, Wanda and I were situated in the upstairs common room. Caleb and Bruce were going over some technical plan and Jess and Rachel were planning out the next section of the story, a terrible tragedy meant to mess with my brain, no doubt. I made a mental note to check to document later./span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff; text-indent: 36pt;" /div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff; text-indent: 36pt;"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"I took a small sip of tea. Boy, did I miss my roommate Zoe and her daily chai tea./span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff; text-indent: 36pt;"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;" /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff; text-indent: 36pt;"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;""So, do you have any hobbies?" She asked, stalking a sip from her white mug./span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff; text-indent: 36pt;"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;" /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff; text-indent: 36pt;"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;""Well, I love to sing, write, read. All kinds of stuff. Fangirl…" I trailed off./span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff; text-indent: 36pt;"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;" /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff; text-indent: 36pt;"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"" Avengers fanfiction?"/span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff; text-indent: 36pt;"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;" /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff; text-indent: 36pt;"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;""And Lord of the Rings"/span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff; text-indent: 36pt;"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;" /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff; text-indent: 36pt;"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"" You Clint and Tony should have a marathon. They love those movies." Wanda took another sip, face flush from the rising steam,/span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff; text-indent: 36pt;" /div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff; text-indent: 36pt;"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;""Count us in to!" Rachel said from across the room./span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff; text-indent: 36pt;"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;" /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff; text-indent: 36pt;"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;""She's telepathic too." I said, answering Wanda's unasked question./span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff; text-indent: 36pt;"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;" /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff; text-indent: 36pt;"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"I glanced around the room, noticing someone was missing. "Where's Aidan?" I asked./span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff; text-indent: 36pt;"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;" /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff; text-indent: 36pt;"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;""In his room" Rachel answered, not looking up./span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff; text-indent: 36pt;"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;" /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff; text-indent: 36pt;"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"I put my mug the table. "I'll be right back" I said to Wanda, springing towards Aidan's door. I pushed it open, revealing the dark empty room. Aidan sat in the corner. I walked closer./span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff; text-indent: 36pt;" /div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff; text-indent: 36pt;"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;""You okay" I asked/span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff; text-indent: 36pt;"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;" /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff; text-indent: 36pt;"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"His only answer was to hold his wrist out, his skin glowing strangely./span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff; text-indent: 36pt;"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;" /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff; text-indent: 36pt;"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;""The chip." I whispered, revealing the glowing spot on my skin./span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff; text-indent: 36pt;" /div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff; text-indent: 36pt;"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 19.9733px;"I was in Danger/span/div 


	6. 6

div id="post-body-8226305785236467069" class="post-body entry-content" style="width: 910px; font-size: 15.4px; line-height: 1.4; position: relative; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; background-color: #f0eeff;"  
div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"span style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 19.9733px;"Six Movies in All/span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center" /div  
div class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"Despite the comfortable bed and relative silence of my room, I slept very little that night. Perhaps it was the unearthly glow of the chip implanted in my arm, or my constant worry, but either way I woke up just as tired as the day before./span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" /div  
div class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"I glanced at my shiny new iPod, charging on the bedside table. Only 4:00. A good enough time to get up. I stumbled out of bed, opening my closet. A pulled a hoodie on, along with a pair of sweatpants./span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"I grabbed a mug, a box of Yorkshire tea, and my writing bag out of my backpack, before quietly slipping out of my room and down the stairs./span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;" /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"Shuffling into the darkened kitchen, I quickly boiled some water and made myself some tea. The only thing that beat a cup of Yorkshire Gold tea was marzipan, and even then, they weren't the same. I grabbed the warm mug and preceded to the couch, where I curled up and started writing. I'd had this great idea for a new LoTR fanfiction, and I wanted to get it down quickly./span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;" /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"I guess I had become so engrossed in my in my writing that I didn't notices the Star Spangled man with a Plan until her sat down next to me./span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;" /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;""You're up early. Couldn't sleep?" He asked, startling me from my silent writing./span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;" /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;""Oh, Hi! I'm sorry I didn't see you. I was writing" I blushed, gesturing to my notebook./span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;" /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"Steve nodded, leaning over the glance at my page. "LoTR? Lord of the Rings, right?"/span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;" /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;""Yeah," I nodded, "This is a background story for one of the characters in another story I write with Rachel and Jess."/span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" /div  
div class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"Cap hummed, as he finished reading the page. "Nhyssa sounds like an interesting character. If you ever need someone to Beta for you…" He trailed off awkwardly./span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" /div  
div class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;""No, that'd be great. Have you seen the movies?"/span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;" /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;""Yep, all six. Took me a while to get into it, but the action is great."/span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;" /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"We sat in silence for a while, sipping our respective drinks. (Steve had Americano coffee from Starbucks)/span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;" /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;""So, do you like being team leader?' He finally asked, the question hanging in the air like a heavy chandelier./span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;" /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"I glanced at my notebook. "It's okay, I guess." I replied, shrugging./span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;" /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;""Let me guess: You didn't have a say in the matter."/span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;" /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"My eyes widened as I fingered the hem of my sweatshirt. "Yeah, well, it's an easy way to keep an eye on a potentially dangerous person." I deadpanned, avoiding eye contact./span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" /div  
div class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;""So how does the Canadian government qualify a 16 year old female as 'Potentially Dangerous?"/span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;" /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;""Wait till you see me on the dance floor. I've been told I come in like a wrecking ball." I replied, /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"wiggling my eyebrows./span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;" /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"Rogers smirked back." Well, you'll be glad to know you won't get any competition from me."/span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;" /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;""Why, you can't dance?"/span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;" /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;""Never found the right partner" he said with a sad smile./span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;" /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;""So, what do the Avengers do when they are not saving the world? I asked, avoiding the awkward topic./span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;" /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;""Well, sometimes we have epic Nerf gun fights, movie marathons, laundry, Wii Olympics, workout, paint."/span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;" /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;""Paint?"/span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;""It's my way of winding down. Tony Tinkers, Bruce drinks tea, Wanda drinks tea…Actually, we all drink tea. What about you?"/span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;" /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;""Sing, write, read, art, eat? It depends on my mood" I chuckled./span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;" /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"Steve glanced down at his mug, swirling the bitter dregs before placing it on the table./span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;" /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;""Mind if I show you something?" He asked as he stood up./span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;" /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;""Sure!" I said, stretching my legs./span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;" /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"Cap lead me down the right hallway, stopping at an unmarked white door. He opened it and flicked on the lights. The small white room was filled with easels and canvasses. Most were empty, but a few were covered in sheets./span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;" /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"Steve grabbed a cart from the corner and dragged it to the center, next to a covered canvas. He pulled the cloth of with a flourish, revealing a beautiful painting of Wanda, sitting in the ruins of Sokovia, something clasped in her hands. The reds and browns flowed together beautifully./span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;" /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;""That is a masterpiece" I whispered breathlessly./span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;" /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;""You think so? I haven't shown anyone, no one else's been in this room before."/span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;" /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;""I feel…honoured" I gazed at the painting in awe./span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;" /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;""I'm doing one for every team member." He walked over and showed me one of Pepper and Tony in /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"a sweet embrace. "Wanda's my favourite, but I just can't get her eyes right." He sighed, frustrated./span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" /div  
div class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;""Try using a glass marble and a flashlight. It might help." I said, glancing at the paintings./span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;" /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;""Thanks. If you ever want to come in and paint or draw, there's a pile of empty canvasses in that box. /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"It be nice to have someone to talk to."/span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;" /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;""Thanks, that's so sweet of you." I added./span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;" /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"He turned to me, a grin spread across his face./span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;" /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;""Wanna go work out in the gym?"/span/div  
div style="border: none; padding: 0cm 0cm 1pt;"  
div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; padding: 0cm;"span style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;" /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; padding: 0cm;"span style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"I rolled my eyes. "Sure thing Spangles!"/span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; padding: 0cm;" /div  
/div  
div class="MsoNormal" /div  
div class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;""So how much hand to hand combat do you know?" Cap asked, pulling on some weighted gloves./span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;" /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;""Um, none?" I spluttered, confused. "I mean, I have powers, so I don't really need anything else."/span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;" /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;""What happens if your powers run out?" Cap questioned./span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;" /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"I shrugged. "Never happened before, but I do see your point."/span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;" /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;""Try and hit me."/span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;" /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;""Um, What?"/span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;" /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;""Try and hit me." He said with a grin./span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;" /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;""Okay…" I said, charging./span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;" /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"My plan was simple. Charge, then feign left, striking when he was disoriented. Unfortunately, when I feigned left, so did he. I felt the chip implant grow hot, warning me about what was happening. Without thought, my leg shot out, round housing Cap, but he grabbed my leg before it could make contact. Unbalanced, I summersaulted toward Steve, who backed away quickly./span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"The chip finally activated. I watched in horror as the energy pulsed out of my palm, hitting Steve square in the chest./span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;" /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"I collapsed on my knees, trying to fight a losing war with the chip, to turn it off, anything./span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;" /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"Steve grabbed my arm, yanking me to my feet and pulling my sleeve up to reveal the foreign object planted beneath my skin./span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;" /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;""What is that?" He growled angrily, yanking my arm for emphasis./span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;" /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;""It's a chip from the facility. It takes over my nervous system if it thinks I'm in danger." I hastily explain, wincing./span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;" /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;""Facility?" He asked, face softening./span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;" /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;""Weapons X facility." I muttered. "Why am I even telling you this? It's not like it matters" I yanked my arm away./span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;" /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;""That's where you got your powers, right?" Steve asked gently./span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;" /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"I nodded, cradling my arm./span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;" /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;""And you've tried to take it out too," He stated, looking at the thick scars that surrounded the chip. "But something bad happens when you try to."/span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;" /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"I nodded slowly, still avoiding eye contact./span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;" /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;""Which is why they made you team leader. They're using your friends to keep you in line." He added, as if he had begun to work it out in his head./span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;" /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;""And I bet the chip wasn't fully armed till you got here, because now that's the only way they can keep you in line." He concluded, shocked./span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" /div  
div class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"What happened next still surprises me to this day./span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" /div  
br /  
div class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 19.9733px;"I was Being Hugged By Steve Rogers./span/div  
div style="clear: both;" /div  
/div  
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	7. Chapter 7

Seven Days of Torture

After explaining most of my life story to Steve, it was about 7- O'clock. The door to the gym swung open, allowing Natasha and Alexa to enter, followed by Clint and Caleb.

I tossed the two pairs of gloves into a nearby laundry basket, walking over to Alexa. "Morning Alexa!" I said "You want a hug?" I asked, reaching out with a huge grin.

"No thanks," she frowned, wrinkling her nose. "Go take a shower."

"Don't worry, you'll all be dripping by the time I'm done with you." Clint said as he cracked his knuckles.

Rachel, Jess, Hanna and Aidan trodded in next, looking quite tired. For once I was glad that I could cope with 2 hours of sleep.

"All right, round the track five times!" Natasha yelled, pointing to the rubber track that swept around the large gym.

Two minutes later, I lay on the mat, sweating and panting along with the rest of my team. This was not good.

During our run, the rest of the Avengers had trickled in, and now we stood in a half sitting, half standing, deformed circle.

Cap grabbed the clipboard that Tony had handed to him, glancing at the group. "So for the next month or so, we're going to be pairing each of you with one of us. Just for training purposes." He stated, making eye contact with everyone. "I will not change mentors, so don't bother asking." He glared at Tony and Alexa separately. He began to read off the list.

"Aidan and Tony, Nat, you've got Alexa,"

Alexa and Aidan high fived each other as Cap continued.

"Caleb, you're with Bruce, Sam, you've got Hannah,"

Bruce and Caleb fist bumped, each other happily, Hannah saluted Sam.

"Barton, Jess. Steve, I mean me, Melanie. Rachel and Wanda." He finished, blushing slightly. "So

find your mentor and we'll get started with training."

Everyone scattered instantly, Tony, Aidan, Caleb and Bruce, (now dubbed the Science Bro's) headed up to the lab, Rachel and Wanda left the gym, while Jess, Clint Nat and Lexa Headed to the range.

Steve turned to me. "No combat for you kid. How about we work on some core muscle strength?"

"Sure thing Cap. Sure thing"

I mentally sighed. I couldn't wait for this week to be over.

We spent that entire week strength training. I hurt in places I didn't know I had. We worked on stuff like leadership, tactics, and using Sims to prepare myself for my leadership role. It was nice to finally be able to keep pace with someone like Barton and Romanoff. Thanks to our four tech guys, everyone got new suits and gadgets. I spent most of my free time talking with people back home and

painting with Steve.

Halfway through the week, the chips turned themselves off for some unknown reason, which meant that Aidan and I could actually do hand to hand combat without putting the others in danger. Aidan normally did things with tony in the Lab, but any physical training he did with cap. It was less messy that way, because it meant Steve was the only one who knew about our predicament.

On the last day, the Avengers had decided to organize a "friendly little competition". We basically just fought each other for first place. Not very creative, but it helped me know where my team was at.

There were two rounds, the first being pure strength, and the second was with our powers and gadgets. I tied in fourth place with Rachel when it came to pure strength, Jess finishing third, Aidan in second and Alexa taking first place. I had a nasty hand shaped bruise around my neck from Lexa, and it wasn't going away anytime soon. I'd taken to wearing scarves around the house.

Overall, Alexa was the best, Aidan, Jess and Rachel all tying for third, I came in fourth, followed by Hannah and Caleb.

Today was Saturday, and Aidan and Alexa were having it out in the bullet proof practice chamber. Alexa had Aidan in a head lock, but Aidan had his gun held to her head. The rest of us were watching from behind the glass as we stretched our sore muscles. Aidan and Lexa pulled away quickly, panting as they chased and pounced on one another like Simba and Scar.

I glanced up as Cap and the two master assassins plodded in wearily. Barton had a nasty looking cut above his right eye. Nat seemed to be her usual glowering self, but I noticed that she kept on wincing as she walked. Not good at all. Rogers, with a huge bruise on his arm and his wrist wrapped in gauze, plopped down on a nearby crate, absentmindedly rubbing his head.

The other Avengers were enjoying their day off, either meeting with friends or just hanging out with family.

I glided over to Steve, joining him on the crate. "You okay there, Cap?"

"'m'fine." He mumbled, glancing at Trickshot and Artix. "Aidan's for his sloppy. He should have more force behind his punches." He deadpanned, leaning his head back against the wall.

"I'm going to try something." I warned him, gently cradling his sprained wrist between my hands. He nodded, eyes closed. I concentrated on the task at hand, as thin wisps of green coloured energy twisted round my hands, then wrapped themselves around his wrist, disappearing like smoke. I pulled away a minute later, then unwrapped the bandages.

"Did you just heal my wrist?" he asked, opening one eye.

"Yeah, I think I did." I said in shock.

He nodded, then closed his eyes once more.

"Do you mind if I keep going?"

He shook his head. "No, but it tickles."

I smiled, then continued with my ministrations. He had a cracked rib, the bruise on his arm and a bad nock to the head. In the background, I could hear Clint and Nat arguing about something, oblivious the glowing green light that surrounded the Captain like an Alien creature.

As I finished healing Cap, I noticed my team had left for the showers. Cap had fallen asleep, no surprise there, given his various injuries, and the bowman was massaging Widow's back. I stood up, leaving a perfectly healthy but sleeping Steve behind on his crate.

"He okay?" Nat asked, chin in her hands.

"I patched him up. He's just tired." I explained, grabbing my gym towel from the hook.

Barton's head popped up. "You can heal people?"

"Somewhat. It honestly depends on the situation."

"Barton." Romanoff growled. He gave me a pleading look, placing his hand on her side. She swatted it away, but couldn't defend against the green wisps that swirled around the burn on her side. Before either could react, I'd healed her and the cut above Clint's eye, then walked out of the gym.

I headed straight to the showers, grabbing a change of clothes from my room before entering the steamy confines of the bathroom that the girls shared.

Turned the water on, allowing the hot liquid to ease my muscles, to wash away the pain of a new day. I t was oddly comforting, a hot shower. Not something I'd been able to have during my years at the facility.

Next thing I knew, my legs had given way, and I slid down the shower wall, unable to move. My eyes darted to the curtain where a shadow stood, head tilted, as if it could see me. It snapped its fingers, then turned and glided out of sight. My body tensed as my mouth opened in a silent scream.

I was Having A Flashback.


	8. Chapter 8

div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff; text-align: center;" align="center"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"Pieces of Eight/span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff;" /div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff;"emspan style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;""No! They can't take him! Let me go Logan!" I cried, thrashing against the strong arms that kept me from saving my friend./span/em/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff;"emspan style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;" /span/em/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff;"emspan style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;""Kid, there's nothing we can do to help him" Logan muttered, twirling me around. "We can't help him"/span/em/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff;" /div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff;"emspan style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;""We're going to die here, aren't we?" I stated, sinking to the floor./span/em/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff;"emspan style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;" /span/em/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff;"emspan style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;""No. No, I will get you out. I promise."/span/em/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff;"emspan style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"-/span/em/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff;"emspan style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;" /span/em/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff;"emspan style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"The needles dug into my skin, sucking again and again at my life blood. I lay still, eyes, closed, as the sharp metal splinter descends into my skin once again. It doesn't hurt anymore, even though it should. I don't care why they need so much. I don't need to. I just lay here, still, unmoving, like the air around me. Barely alive./span/em/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff;"emspan style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;" /span/em/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff;"emspan style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"-/span/em/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff;"emspan style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;" /span/em/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff;"emspan style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"The screams ring in my ears. I try to reach out to Aidan, to hold his hand, comfort him, stop the pain. /span/em/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff;"emspan style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;" /span/em/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff;"emspan style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"They zap me, the electricity commanding my obedience./span/em/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff;"emspan style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;" /span/em/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff;"emspan style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"I cry Aidan't tears for him, as they implant the bio screen on his eye, then place the chip in his arm./span/em/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff;"emspan style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;" /span/em/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff;"emspan style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"Unable to bear the sight of his blood all over the room, I turn to Logan, burying my face in is burly shoulder. Tears wetting his shirt. We both face away from the glass. We do not want to see our friend in this much pain./span/em/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff;"emspan style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;" /span/em/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff;"emspan style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"-/span/em/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff;" /div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff;"emspan style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"I pull against the restraints. I need to get out. Now. I am overwhelmed with the pure panic, as the coffin like cart is wheeled down the hallway. Click clack click clack, like a train about to crash./span/em/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff;"emspan style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;" /span/em/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff;"emspan style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"Smooth round faces above me watch in wonder and awe. A monster descends, bright, white eyes that shine like lights. His sharp, needle-claws sink into the skin on my arms, venom-catalyst sinking into my body./span/em/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff;"emspan style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;" /span/em/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff;"emspan style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"Burning/span/em/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff;"emspan style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;" /span/em/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff;"emspan style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"The pain explodes in sync with the room around me./span/em/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff;"emspan style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;" /span/em/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff;"emspan style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"Burning/span/em/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff;"emspan style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;" /span/em/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff;"emspan style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"Guards hustle Logan and Aidan out, while others scream./span/em/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff;"emspan style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;" /span/em/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff;"emspan style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"Burning/span/em/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff;"emspan style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;" /span/em/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff;"emspan style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"I scream as the venom,/span/em/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff;"emspan style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;" /span/em/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff;"emspan style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"Burning/span/em/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff;"emspan style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;" /span/em/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff;"emspan style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"Runs its course,/span/em/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff;"emspan style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;" /span/em/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff;"emspan style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"Burning/span/em/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff;"emspan style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;" /span/em/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff;"emspan style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"It does its job./span/em/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff;"emspan style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;" /span/em/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff;"emspan style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"Burning/span/em/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff;"emspan style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;" /span/em/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff;"emspan style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"Bright lights from above fade to grey, and so do I./span/em/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff;"emspan style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"-/span/em/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff;"emspan style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;" /span/em/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff;"emspan style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"Logan stands above me, bloody metal claws poised and ready to kill./span/em/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff;"emspan style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;" /span/em/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff;"emspan style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"I know he won't hurt me. He's my friend./span/em/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff;"emspan style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;" /span/em/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff;"emspan style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"Because no matter what they did to us, they couldn't change who we were inside./span/em/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff;"emspan style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;" /span/em/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff;"emspan style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"He growls, and the claws disappear back into his hands, the skin healing over, just like it does with Aidan and I./span/em/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff;"emspan style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;" /span/em/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff;"emspan style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"He offers me a hand, pulling me to my feet./span/em/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff;"emspan style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;" /span/em/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff;"emspan style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"The three of us run outside./span/em/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff;"emspan style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;" /span/em/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff;"emspan style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"Then the battle starts. Logan will come, Aidan assures me. So we run./span/em/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff;"emspan style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;" /span/em/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff;"emspan style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"Lonely and separate from out protector./span/em/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;" /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"Rain falls slowly. Warm rain./span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff;"emspan style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;" /span/em/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff;"emspan style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"Cold snow fills my boots./span/em/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;" /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"I choke as the water pours down, filling my mouth./span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff;"emspan style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;" /span/em/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff;"emspan style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"MELANIE! I'm ALIVE !/span/em/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;" /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"I wake up with a start. I'm in the shower…the memories…Is Logan really alive? I don't know. I can't think, my hands shake./span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff;"span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 19.9733px;" /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; background-color: #f0eeff;"span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 19.9733px;"I was Drowning./span/div 


	9. Chapter 9

Nine Lives

Aidan and I cross paths in the hallway. He's buried inside his shell as much as I am. We trade nods. We both know something is up. We've spent enough time together that we can read each other pretty well. We're like siblings that way. I know he thinks the same thing I do. That maybe Logan is still out there, still alive. He heard the cry too. We'll talk later tonight, outside and under the cover of darkness.

I move on, trudging up the stairs. It's almost as if I'm not really there. I've become a robot, nothing more than a stiff being without thought. My brain is like a puddle. I can't think, or speak or act. I just do.

Rachel greets me at my bedroom door, two mugs in hand. She passes one to me, the sweet scent of apple cider rising to greet my nose. Sometimes, she knows me well, other times, it's like she's indifferent, misunderstanding. What she doesn't know is that it smells most strongly of cinnamon, and right now, it's making me miss my family. The colour of the drink doesn't help either. All I can see is blood, the blood of my friends and family and the other projects. My hands start to shake. I need to stop thinking about this. I have to stop and listen to Rachel. Now.

"You alright?" She asks. I probably look like a train wreck right now, wet hair, shaking hands, crumpled wrinkled clothes, and glasses off.

"Yeah, just thinking about stuff" I lie through my teeth, jaw clenched. I honestly don't want to talk about it right now.

She nods quickly. Rachel knows me well enough to be able to tell when I'm lying. "I'm gonna go talk to Hannah and Braedon." She waves as she goes off to talk to her sibling. We all miss our family, but we're glad for things like text and facetime.

Once inside my room, I grab a heavy metal briefcase from my closet, and lug it down to the main level, before dragging it into Steve's art room.

I flick on the light, pulling a stool and the briefcase over to the corner, where an easel and canvas are set up. We've dubbed it "Pooh Corner", after one of our new favourite song. I opened the briefcase, pulling out a battered sketchbook and pencil.

"Hey, Friday? You mind playing my art playlist?"

"Oh course." The AI replied as the soft classical music of the Piano Guys filtered in.

I sat there for the better part of an hour, simply sketching and re sketching the supposedly simple drawing. Steve crept in behind me, causing me to jump. He smiled, then went over to his current painting.

Now, there are a few rules when it comes to our art room. You don't look at the other person's work unless they ask you, or tell you that you can.

I sketched the final image onto the canvas, erasing bits that I didn't like. Maybe once the paint was on it would feel right. I grabbed my container of pre-made skin tone, adding just a hint of brown to make it darker. As I started painting, I sighed. It just didn't feel right.

"Steve. Help." I asked, placing the brush into the cup of water.

Steve came over, looking adorably dorky with a pencil tucked behind his ear.

"It doesn't feel right. He's gone. I shouldn't be doing this." I mutter, tapping my foot with annoyance.

"May I?" Rogers asked, dipping a brush in black paint. I nodded. "Do ahead. I'm gonna throw it out anyways."

He smirked, gently pushing me off my stool. "Go take a look at mine." He said with a smirk.

I walked over and stared at the black canvas. "It looks great." I said, rolling my eyes.

"Mhmh." He replied distractedly. "I call it snow. Or Winter in Canada." He deadpanned.

I laughed, walking back over to my corner. Steve moved aside. It was the same picture, except all black, like a shadow. It felt strangely…..alive.

"Wow. I…wow." I sputtered, as I stared at our combined effort. The man in the painting seemed to smirk back at me. It was almost as if I could see his reaction. He would like it. It had an air of mystery to it.

"Would he approve?"

I grabbed a thin paintbrush, dipping it in red. I placed three red slashes in the corner. I smiled.

"I think he would."

I was Sure.


	10. Chapter 10

10 Years a Slave

Finally, after two weeks of trading, we were allowed to join our mentors on their assignments.

Cap, Artrix, Widow, Hawkeye, Bolt and I had been sent to take down an underground hydra cloning facility. The base, located underneath a warehouse in Delaware, seemed suspiciously familiar.

We boarded the quinjet quickly. Jess and I nervously checked out our new gear, while the others were calm cool and relaxed. I was wearing my new stealth gear. It was a black asymmetrical tunic, dark matte plum leggings and black combat boots. The tunic had a hood and a voice distorter that I could turn on if I wanted to. I thought it was pretty sick.

We parachuted in at 11:00, landing quietly on the roof. By that point, I had officially decided I hated parachutes. The others kept guard while I burned through the padlock on the roof trapdoor. I caught it the door carefully, picking it up and placing it gently beside me.

I nodded to Widow, who deftly but carefully jumped down, as silent as a cat. Seconds later, we heard the "tap tap" of the all clear sign on our comms. Time to get back down to earth. Steve went in next, just not as silent, then followed by Jess, Alexa, myself and then Barton.

As expected, we were in a t shaped hallway. Cap and I went straight, Hawkeye and Artrix went left,

while Widow and Bolt went right, as we had previously planned. Cap eased the heavy door open, revealing a fully stocked lab. Chemicals lined the shelves, and the counter was covered with beakers and test tubes, some empty, and others filled with strange coloured liquids. It was all too eerily familiar. A lone door with a keypad stood at the other end of the room, looking out of place and awkward. I waved my hand, disturbing the electrical components. Captain grabbed the door, pulling it open.

It looked like the scene from Star Wars Ep. II, the one with the clones on the conveyor belt that just kept going round and round?

Yeah, it was creepy.

I tossed Cap the charges, and stood by the door as he set them. Tapping his comm twice, our signal for all clear, we went out to the exit to wait for the others. I glanced around warily. I may be an introvert, but the silence was killing me.

A minute later, we were joined by Jess and Nat, both of them limping slightly. I waved my hand behind my back quickly, healing them. I received a glare from Nat and a whisper of thanks from Jess. We just sat in silence for a while. Nat was getting fidgety, and so was I. This was not good.

Suddenly, the door that Bolt and Hawkeye had gone through burst to pieces, the heatwave from the explosion rolling over us. Widow lunged forward, but Cap held her back.

"Natasha, listen. We can't just barge in there." He said calmly, with constant eye contact, holding her shoulders steady.

"You ought to listen to your Captain, Widow." A smooth voice purred, as the tall blonde women emerged from the smoke, silk encased hands dragging the bodies or our friends.

I gulped. After all these years. No. I wasn't going to let the past repeat itself.

I growled, igniting my hands. "Let them go Plaz." I said, stepping forward.

"Well well, you _have_ become much more confident." She smirked, dropping the limp bodies to the floor. "But surely you remembered what happened last time. History always repeats itself."

I turned to Cap. "Go. I can handle it." He nodded, then motioned for Nat to pick up Alexa while he carried Jess. I waited till the door closed before igniting my whole body with energy.

"I'm here to end this." She growled, dropping her silk gloves to the floor.

"How many have you killed off?"

"There is an order to everything. You are Project Sigma. Therefore, you are the 18th."

"I'm not next" I crossed my arms. "Aidan is."

"Lies! All of it!" She screamed, her body beginning to flame.

"No. They never started the surgery. Your order is wrong."

"I WILL END THIS!" she screamed, her eyes glinting with the light of the bio screen. Some would call it the glint of a crazed mind, but all of the projects new what it really was. And I knew that she wasn't actually killing them one by one. They were. And They had found me. They realized I would beat her. Picking the strongest out of all of us was the only way for Them to continue this crazed idea of Theirs.

And now she was going to blow. Destroy herself like the bomb they had created her after.

Primed to blow

Primed to Destroy

Primed to Kill.

I lunged, wrapping my arms around her body of burning plasma, sucking and pulling all the energy I could into myself.

It burned like flame, a great fire, a melting pool of lava. I cradled my arm to my chest, holding onto the ball of energy, Fire pulsed through my veins. I'd hoped that maybe, only mayb-


	11. Chapter 11

div id="post-body-72972693507977240" class="post-body entry-content" style="width: 910px; font-size: 15.4px; line-height: 1.4; position: relative; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; background-color: #f0eeff;"  
div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"11supth/sup Grade/span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;" /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center" /div  
div class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;""We need to help her! " Jess cried, pulling against Steve's protective arm. There was still time to save her!/span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;" /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;""Jessica. Alexa and Clint are hurt. You have medical training, so I need to you stay here and help them." Cap swung his shield onto his back, worry permeating his tone. Wither is was worry for Barton and Rhaul, or Melanie, Jess couldn't tell./span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;" /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"The captain took off running, back towards the building. A huge explosion shook the forested area. /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;" /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"No! He couldn't let her get hurt! He wouldn't allow himself to lose another friend. Steve pushed, running faster and farther./span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;" /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"It took hours. The bomb had gone off early in the morning. 2 hours later, all of the other Avengers had joined them in the search, even pepper was there, and she brought food and Coffee./span/div  
div style="border: none; padding: 0cm 0cm 1pt;"  
div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; padding: 0cm;"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;" /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; padding: 0cm;"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"They couldn't find her. Volunteers joined them, and still, they couldn't find her. All they could do was /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; padding: 0cm;"span style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt;"worry. And worry they did./span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; padding: 0cm;"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;" /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; padding: 0cm;"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;" /span/div  
/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;" /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" /div  
div class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"Captain America flings rubble, sweat and tear mingling together as they fall to the ground. Falling, dripping away. Just like his hope./span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;" /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"Iron man melt rebar and metal blocking his path, burning it, melting it, red hot, white hot fire, while red hot, white hot anger boils away inside./span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;" /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"Hulk smashes. And smashes. Bruce Smashes too. He smashes away the concrete, till it represents his heart. Broken./span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;" /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"Natasha waits, sewing skin, cleaning blood, holding limp hands. She waits for her Clint, her first ever friend, and Alexa, her enemy turned trainee. And she thinks. Ponders about the girl she barely knew, but who went through just as much pain and hurt as anyone in the red room could./span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;" /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"Aidan sits by himself. He only ever had two friends, and now they both have left him. Nobody knew him as well as she did, and nobody cared as much as Logan. And now they're both gone? He can't handle it anymore./span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;" /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"It's all too much for them to handle. They can't think, they stare dumbly at the wall./span/div  
div style="border: none; padding: 0cm 0cm 1pt;"  
div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; padding: 0cm;"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"12 hours later, and she is still not found./span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; padding: 0cm;"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;" /span/div  
/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;" /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"Steve Rogers, the Star Spangled Man With A Plan, can't run, can't speak, can't breathe./span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;" /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"He wants to shut his eyes, clench his fist, and curl into a ball./span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;" /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"Yet all is can do is stare. Stare at the broken bloody mangled nightmare mess before him./span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;" /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"But instead, he reaches down, and with gentle tender arms, he lifts the limp body of his friend into his arms, and cradles her. People watch and stare, camera's rolling and lightbulbs flashing, capturing image upon image of the Captain and his fallen comrade./span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" /div  
div class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"The Avengers and Beta Force follow behind, joined as one./span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" /div  
div class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"Bruce knows a hospital will do no good for his young friend. He's unsure if she'll get through this unscarred, unchanged. She might never heal, but right now, his priority is keeping her alive./span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" /div  
div class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"Alexa and jess are the only ones who look at her. Jess immediately kicks into first aid gear, inserting IV, cleaning wounds and sewing skin./span/div  
div style="border: none; padding: 0cm 0cm 1pt;"  
div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; padding: 0cm;"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;" /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; padding: 0cm;"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"Alexa takes one look, then dry heaves into a paper bag. /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; padding: 0cm;"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;" /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; padding: 0cm;"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"She just can't./span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; padding: 0cm;"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;" /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; padding: 0cm;"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;" /span/div  
/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;" /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"Bruce gets her settled in the med bay, conveniently located next to his room and close to Steve's./span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;" /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"Rachel doesn't leave her room for a week, not even to get food. At night, when everyone is asleep, /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;" /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"Alexa said she could hear her speaking to herself or crying./span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;" /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"Barton and Jess shot bows for hours, stopping occasionally for food and then to check on Mel./span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;" /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"Tony helped Bruce watch Melanie, changing the IV bag and checking her vitals, which allowed Bruce to get at least some rest and a little bit of food./span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;" /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"After a 2 weeks she still hadn't woken up. Bruce decided it would be safe to move her out of the med bay and into the nearby empty room. After all, it would be easier to keep an eye on her./span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;" /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"But he knew that the team needed to see her in a more natural place, not somewhere that looked like a hospital./span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;" /span/div  
div class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"Everyone was itching to do something, so Pepper suggested they paint the room, decorate it somehow. At least it would keep them busy./span/div  
div class="MsoNormal" /div  
br /  
div class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;" At least it would distract them./span/div  
div style="clear: both;" /div  
/div  
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	12. Chapter 12

On the 12th Day of Unconsciousness…

I groaned, rolling onto my tender side. This annoying beepy thing kept going off near my ear. My eyes fluttered open of their own will. I don't know what I had expected to see, but it definitely wasn't this.

The pale grey walls were covered, and I mean covered, in pieces of art. Photographs, paintings, shelves with objects on them. There was no light in the ceiling, but low tables places around the room were covered in flickering candles and fresh fragrant flowers.

I squeezed my eyes shut. Right. Plazma. Images flashed before my eyes. Plazma, dying, free of Their control, burnt hands clawing for life and light.

I relaxed into the soft bed, tired and exhausted, even though I'd barley moved. The door creaked opened, allowing a sliver of light and Steve into the room.

I sat up slowly, smiling as he did. "Hey." I whispered, my voice grating and weedy. His face lit up, and he closed the door, sealing us in the flickering candle light. Steve gently sat on the edge of the bed, eyes shining with delight.

"It's nice to see you awake. How do you feel?" He asked, concern flickering over his features as he gently removed the IV needle from my skin. I shuddered. I must be on a lot of drugs if the needle wasn't bothering me, because I hate them with a passion.

"Sore." I muttered. "Where am I and what day is it?" I asked as he handed me a glass of water.

"You're in the extra room, and….." He paused, as if for dramatic affect.

"It's your birthday!"

I sat up too quickly, feeling dizzy. Steve slowly eased me up.

"I've been out for a month?" I gasped.

"Yes." He nodded grimly.

I scooted towards the edge of the bed, swinging my legs over the edge. Steve grasped my arm. "Slow down there. You've been out for too long, you won't get very far." He smiled, scooping me up bridal style.

I smiled up at him. "Do you know how weird this feels? Could we please do this some other way?" I laughed awkwardly, gesturing to our current position.

"Good idea." He replied, placing me back down on the bed, then picking me up again in a piggyback. "How's that?"

"Much better, thanks" I smiled, arms around his neck.

He chuckled. "It's just like carrying around my shield, expect you're a bit bigger, and you can breathe."

I giggled "Wow, I feel special."

"Come on, everyone's waiting to see you."

Immediately as we left the room, we were attacked.

Attacked by confetti, streamers, rice. And then came the hugs.

Beta Hugs, Hulk hugs, Avengers hug, one sided Stark hugs, Super Soldier hugs, Weapons X hugs, Awkward European hugs, hugs galore.

"Oh my goodness, you guys! I need to breathe." I gasped for air.

Rachel smiled at me. It seemed that grins and smiles had become infectious, and I wasn't surprised. I had been out for a month. I had no idea how hard it must have been for them.

"Cake or presents?" She asked, a smirk tugging at her lips.

"Cake, plu-ease. I am so hungry." Aiden begged, his face alight.

"Forbid me from making Aiden hungry. Cake it is. But could I have some tea please?" I asked, leaning on Wanda's arm as we walked into the main kitchen.

"I'll go get you some." Wanda smiled, handing me off to Barton.

"Hey kid." He smiled down at me. "Thanks for saving my life." He added gratefully.

"Not a problem. But if you ever need someone to watch the kids…" I smirked. He chuckled back. It had become a joke among the girls as to who would get to babysit the little mini Barton's.

He walked me over to one of the couches, helping me sit down. I tried not to move too fast, otherwise I felt dizzy. Cap sat next to me, Jess on the other side.

Tony sauntered in with a tray full of cake. He passed the pieces around, then dropped a box onto my lap. "I got you something!" He said cheerfully. He sounded like a little kid.

"Well, actually you bought it, and we all picked it out." Rachel corrected, as Wanda handed me my tea.

Suddenly, Aidan walked up with a bag and dumped the contents onto my lap. Several identical boxes spilled out. I picked them up and opened them one at a time. It was a charm bracelet, with a charm for each of my friends. Rachel gave me a music note, Jess gave me an arrow, Aidan gave me a lightning bolt, Caleb gave me a beaker, Alexa gave me a sword, and Hannah gave me a small owl. From the Avengers I got a silver star (Stark) a bow (Hawkeye) a cup of tea (Wanda) a paintbrush (Steve) a black stone with red flecks (Nat) a pair of glasses (Bruce) another owl (Sam) a blue stone (Vision) and a white stone (Rhodes).

"Guys, this is the sweetest gift ever!" I said, giving everyone a hug.

"But that's not all." Tony smirked. "Tonight, we are having a full-blown, amazing, Stark style party!"


	13. Chapter 13

h3 class="post-title entry-title" style="margin: 0.75em 0px 0px; position: relative; font-weight: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 24px; line-height: normal; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; color: #222222; background-color: #f0eeff;"The Not so Unlucky Thirteen, Agent Sharon Carter./h3  
div class="post-header" style="line-height: 1.6; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; font-size: 12.6px; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; background-color: #f0eeff;" /div  
div id="post-body-1876668279306404228" class="post-body entry-content" style="width: 910px; font-size: 15.4px; line-height: 1.4; position: relative; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; background-color: #f0eeff;"  
div class="" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span class="" style="font-size: 14.6667px; font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" The dress was beautiful. Long, lush silky plum material swished down to my feet, clad in tan strappy, greek style sandals. A beaded belt round my middle allowed the floor length skirt to flare, and the silver beaded bodice glistened in the light. The dress was strapless, and was a gift from Pepper. Sharon had given me this beautiful stole, creamy coloured with a few random plum and silver threads woven in./span/div  
span class=""span class=""br class="" /span/span  
div class="" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span class="" style="font-size: 14.6667px; font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" But when I had gone into my room to turn the light off, I found a small, diamond tiara sitting on the bed. I smiled, and gently placed it on my head of curled hair. I felt so pretty. /span/div  
span class=""span class=""br class="" /span/span  
div class="" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span class="" style="font-size: 14.6667px; font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" I met the rest of the team in our lounge area. The Avengers were waiting for us at the bottom of the stairs is the kitchen area, but Pepper had insisted we come down in pairs. After all, this was a very special occasion. I glanced at my smiling team. /span/div  
span class=""span class=""br class="" /span/span  
div class="" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span class="" style="font-size: 14.6667px; font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" Rachel wore a beautiful solid, floor length, form fitting burgundy dress with long, tight, lace sleeves. Caleb and Aidan both looked equally sharp (and cool) in tuxedos and bowties. Hannah begrudgingly donned a cute black, white polka-dotted skater dress and a pair of cute black flats. Jess wore a swishy, ocean blue dress with a pretty pearl necklace and cuff. Alexa wore a long, form fitting, black dress with a scandalous slit up the side. /span/div  
span class=""span class=""br class="" /span/span  
div class="" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span class="" style="font-size: 14.6667px; font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" " You guys look amazing!" I gasped. This was the best birthday I've had so far. /span/div  
span class=""span class=""br class="" /span/span  
div class="" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span class="" style="font-size: 14.6667px; font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" " So do you!" Rachel replied, smiling. "Oh, Pepper wants us to walk down in pairs so she can take pictures." I glanced around the room. Aidan had moved a step closer to Rachel, almost protectively. I was sure Rachel had noticed, but… Well, they were kinda cute together. /span/div  
span class=""span class=""br class="" /span/span  
div class="" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span class="" style="font-size: 14.6667px; font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" Rachel looped her arm though Aidan's and they glided down the stairs. I could easily see them together, but it was still odd, seeing two of my good friends like that. Jess, Alexa and Caleb went down next, singing "We're off to see the wizard!' at the top of their lungs. I smiled at Hannah. /span/div  
span class=""span class=""br class="" /span/span  
div class="" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span class="" style="font-size: 14.6667px; font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" "Ready Wingman?" I said as I practically pulled her down the stairs, where everyone was. And I mean, literally everyone. Tony and Pepper stood by the counter, hashing out last minute details. I loved the two of them together. Sharon Carter was talking to Steve and Sam. Steve talked about her all the time, and I'd met her once before. Wanda was adjusting Vision's Tux for him. He looked adorably dorky, I loved it. Rhodes was talking to Happy over a drink, and Barton, Alexa, Jess, Maria and Coulson were talking about some SHIELD gossip. Nat, Bruce, and Rachel were laughing about a joke Aidan had just told them. I was forced to take a second look because Aidan and Rachel were holding hands. And then of course that meant that-/span/div  
span class=""span class=""br class="" /span/span  
div class="" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span class="" style="font-size: 14.6667px; font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" Oh./span/div  
span class=""span class=""br class="" /span/span  
div class="" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span class="" style="font-size: 14.6667px; font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" My./span/div  
div class="" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span class="" style="font-size: 14.6667px; font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" /span/div  
div class="" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span class="" style="font-size: 14.6667px; font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" Goodness./span/div  
span class=""span class=""br class="" /span/span  
div class="" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span class="" style="font-size: 14.6667px; font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" Thor. THe thor, the thunderer of Asgard, Thor. And Jane. Oh my goodness./span/div  
span class=""span class=""br class="" /span/span  
div class="" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span class="" style="font-size: 14.6667px; font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" Hannah walked up behind me. "Hey, isn't that the THunder person guy?" She teased. /span/div  
span class=""span class=""br class="" /span/span  
div class="" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span class="" style="font-size: 14.6667px; font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" "Hannah! How dare you!" I mock scolded her as we walked fully into the room. /span/div  
span class=""span class=""br class="" /span/span  
div class="" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span class="" style="font-size: 14.6667px; font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" Tony turned, a huge grin on his face. I couldn't tell if it was good or bad. "Ah, the lady of the hour has arrived!" He grinned as everyone turned to look at me. I blushed beet red. I hated being the center of attention. /span/div  
span class=""span class=""br class="" /span/span  
div class="" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span class="" style="font-size: 14.6667px; font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" "Well, the Limos have just arrived!" Pepper said. "So in Limo one, we've got Tony and I, Rhodes and Caleb. Limo Two has Bruce, Nat, Rachel and Aidan. Limo three is Sharon, Steve, Sam and Hannah. Limo four is Jess, Clint, Maria, Coulson. 5 is Wanda, Vision and Alexa, and 6 is the birthday girl, Thor and Jane." /span/div  
span class=""span class=""br class="" /span/span  
div class="" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span class="" style="font-size: 14.6667px; font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" Oh my goodness…...I GOT TO RIDE WITH THOR AND JANE ! /span/div  
span class=""span class=""br class="" /span/span  
div class="" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span class="" style="font-size: 14.6667px; font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" Man, this day was just getting better and better. What else would happen?/span/div  
span class=""span class=""br class="" /span/span  
div class="" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span class="" style="font-size: 14.6667px; font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" Maybe, just maybe, I'd meet some old friends and make some new ones. I had no idea how righ/span/div  
/div 


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

We arrived at the Gala a while later. I left the limo last, gingerly lifting my skirts so I wouldn't trip. The press had cameras rolling and flashing as they snapped pictures of the many guest on the red carpet.

I kinda freaked out about that. It was a real live red carpet, underneath my feet, and I was walking on it.

We smiled and waved to the crows, stopping and posing for pictures. Among the guests were a few celebrities, some scientist and researchers. I spotted Janet Pym, one of Caleb's obsessions, Dr Hank Mycoy, (an old friend of mine), Slyvestor Moins, the Canadian Ambassador here in New York, and Super Model Emma Frost, who I disliked with a passion.

We slowly trickled inside, and I was immediately grabbed by Tony, who whisked me around the room, introducing me to so many people and friends of his.

Finally, he let me go. I wandered around, looking for Hank, but he spotted me first. With a smile, he grabbed a drink from a nearby tray and handed it to me after a quick hug.

"Melanie, it's good to see you! How have thing been?" He asked. I realized he must have taken the pills tonight, because I didn't see any blue hair.

"Pretty good. Training's been busy, and the cave is coming along." I said, hinting to the base that he had helped us discover. We hadn't been there in a while, but we planned to use it soon.

"Of course. Charles says hello."

I smiled. Charles Xavier was also an old friend. He'd started a school for gifted children, or mutants, and was also secretly the leader of the X-men. "I haven't seen him in ages. How did the fundraising go?"

"Quite well actually. We'll be able to keep the school open for a few more years."

"I will have to come and visit then." I smiled.

"Well, we'd love to have you." Hank offered kindly.

I gave him a hug. " I should go before Tony comes back and drags me into the fray again." I smile and wave, walking over to our reserved table. But Pepper charged up to me, grabbing my arm.

"Tony needs you back stage." She said, pointing to the door. I sighed. If I had to give a speech...

Tony handed me a wireless mic.

Yep, i had to give a speech.

He pointed to the TelePrompter. "Feel free to go off script." He said, then gestured to the stage. "Break a leg kid!"

I nodded, straitening my dress. Then I walked into the dazzling bright light.

"Welcome, Ladies and Gentlemen, to the first annual Stark Relief Foundation Gala!" I smiled at the huge applause.

"Thank you. We're so honored to have you all with us tonight. And my, don't you all look wonderful!" The crowd laughed, and I could here a few people complementing my dress as well.

I turned to a large screen behind me. "We're all here tonight for one reason. " I pointed to the screen. "New York. DC, Miami, London, New Mexico, Sokovia, Illinois." The crowd went silent as pictures flashed cross the screen.

" I have seen first hand the destruction saving the world can cause. But trust me when I say this: We did save the world that day. It may not look like it, but we did our best."

I paused. "We can't make the world perfect. Sometimes you have to break a few eggs to make an omelette. Thankfully, these eggs can be fixed. You see, that's why the Stark relief fund is here. You can help us help others. Once the Avengers have saved the world, then comes in the next team of superheros. You guys. Not only will your support repair damages, but you'll also be providing jobs and a source of income to people around the world. We'll have groups stationed round the world in major cities, ready to respond. But we can only do this with your help."

I smiled. " I know you will all take the right course of action. but first..." I paused for dramatic affect. "Let's eat!" _

Later that night I watched from the sidlenes and couples danced and twilred on the floor.

Thor and Jane

Rachel and Aidan

Tony and Pepper

Steve and Sharon

Bruce and Natasha

Wanda and Vision

Caleb and Jess

And I sat alone.

Suddenly, my head starts to pound. I glance to my left, where a shaky blob of bluish energy is glowing. Only I can see it, because of my powers. It straightens into the image on a young man about my age, dressed in a tun, black hair messily combed. He stood by himself, looking at me. Then, ethereal dancers and couples just like him mingled with the real ones.

He smiled and me, offering his hand. I reached out, and we touched.

It was odd, the first time, being in two worlds at once. To everyone around us we both looked real, but to each other, we glowed and pulsed like the step on a dance. We didn't talk, I don't think we could. We just danced.

This wasn't the last time we would meet.

We would be together. Somehow.

Some way.

Someday.


	15. Chapter 15

Mission Impossible

I stared out at the vibrant city of Lagos, one leg dangling over the edge of one of the tall business building that dominated the African landscape. Alexa sat next to me, on the corner of the roof, fiddling with the comm that should have been in her ear. I didn't bother chiding her; no one was currently talking.

We were on another mission, this time to catch Rumlow and his gang. They'd been a nuisance ever since the SHEILD incident in DC. This was the first official Avengers Initiative mission that Beta Force had been allowed on. Personally, I thought this was a great indicator of our team competence, but Alexa disagreed. She though it was merely a publicity move, meant to boost Canada's Peace keeping operations. Of course, this made sense, but so did my idea. We'd definitely progressed as a team. Before we were an okay team, and that was all we needed to be. But now….

Now the director had no choice. He had to keep us here. Our safety was sure, at least for the next week or so. I couldn't promise anything, but at least I could try.

I glanced down at the street below us, watching Hannah and Aidan converse over the sandwiches they had purchased. Falcon was on another roof, I could barely see the red of his wings from my position. One block away from Hannah and Aidan, Nat was supposedly watching the street, and Wanda was watching the police station. Spade (Rachel) was just walking around out side. Steve was inside an empty apartment room, watching over all of the proceedings.

A monotone beep sounded in my earpiece, and I gestured to Alexa, indicating that we were ready to begin. We both moved to opposite sides of the roof, prepared for whatever Cap needed us to do.

"Alright, what do you see?" Cap asked, and I glanced out over the tall landscape. I didn't see anything of interest, but that wasn't what he was looking for.

"Standard beat cops, small stations, quiet street. It's a good target." Wanda said quietly, the clink of a metal spoon against china filtering in through the comms.

"There's an ATM on the corner which means…" Cap prompted, his mind seemingly in training mode.

"Cameras." Wanda answered without blinking. Well, she could have blinked, but I couldn't see her so…Oh, never mind.

" Both cross streets are one way." Cap pointed out. He seemed intent on teaching us the fine points of strategy. I appreciated it, but it was starting to become annoying.

"So compromised escape routes." Wanda's quiet voice once again filtered through my ear. I flicked my finger, amping the volume up slightly. It was really handy having electrical powers.

"And…?" Captain America asked once again.

"More civilian casualties." I spoke softly, and then turned to a smirking Alexa. I shrugged at her. If anyone was the teacher's pet, it would be Wanda. I know Steve was trying to do his best, and I didn't blame him.

"Means our guy doesn't care about being seen, and he isn't afraid to make a mess on the way out See that range rover halfway up the block?" I glanced at the car Cap had pointed out.

"You mean the red one? It's cute. " I rolled my eyes at Wanda. She loved the color red.

"How about ugly and an eye sore?" Lexa smirked in my direction. She was always poking fun on serious missions.

"It's also bullet proof, which means private security." Natasha pointedly ignored Alexa. I didn't know all of their past history, but it seemed to affect their dealings with each other. But then again, Alexa was a lot of play and very little serious thought.

I saw Aidan splutter across the street. "How do you know that? How would anyone know that?" He asked, surprised and shocked. Hannah could be seen giggling across from him.

"It means more guns, which means more headaches for someone, probably us." Natasha pointedly ignored Aiden.

Wanda must have been smirking, her voice lilted up just a little. "You guys know I can move things with my mind, right?" She teased.

"Looking over your shoulder needs to become second nature. For all of you. " Natasha reminded us for the hundredth time this week. Hannah, still seated at the restaurant with Aidan, looked over her shoulder and winked at Alexa and I. I waved back, a smile tugging at my face. Man, I was glad to be on a mission with her.

"Anybody ever tell you you're a little paranoid?" Sam asked from his perch.

"Not to my face. Why, did you hear something?" Natasha loosened up just enough. Alexa laughed and then something in Russian, which Natasha once again ignored, but she did laugh at whatever Lexa had said.

"Eyes on target folks. This is the best lead we've had on Rumlow for months, I don't want to loose him." Steve easily redirected the conversation back to a more mission-suited mood.

"If he sees us coming," Sam's voice filtered into the comms, the wind making it quitter than it should have been. "It won't be a problem. He kind of hates us."

"Sam, see that garbage truck? Tag it." Cap directed Sam, but I saw Hannah pull out her phone, the one that controlled her bird, Hawkling, as she had fondly dubbed it. "Race ya, Redwing." She smirked, sending her bird flying cross the sky.

"You can race me, but you won't win." Sam teased. This little feud of theirs had been going on for weeks. "Ha, beat ya!" He cheered and Hannah grumbled.

"Once. Just once I want SOMEONE to appreciate Hawkling! That's all I ask!" She ranted, re-directing the drone to land next to me on the building.

"Dude, I sooooo ship Redwing and Hawkling together." I giggled, gently picking the bird up in my cupped hands. Alexa smirked and shook her head.

"You guys are the weirdest." Aiden stuck his tongue out at Hannah as he finished the last bite of sandwich.

"Trucks loaded for max weight. And the drivers armed." Sam hastily spoke. I could just see the tail end of the truck.

"It's a battering ram." Nat realized, and my stomach sank. Not good, not good at all.

"Go now. He's not aiming for the police." Cap told us, and I glanced at Lexa. She nodded, and we both leaped off the edge of the skyscraper.

We were freefalling.


	16. Chapter 16

Safe and Sound

We were free falling off the building for about 10 seconds before I caught us on a glider shaped piece of energy. Alexa crouched at the front, holding onto the energy for dear life, while stood at the back, steering us through the air. I thought we looked pretty cool, flying in the air like that.

'Infectious Diseases, let's go team!" I spoke into the comms as we neared our destination. Hannah was supposedly flying Aidan, and Rachel could fly on something if she really wanted to.

 _Guys, you might want to…shoot. They've been breached. I'm picking up the truck driver, then I'll meet you there. They've got multiple moving fans filled with people. I can't stop them!_ I heard Rachel talking to me as she began to panic.

"Spade, don't panic, okay? Just do your job. " I stated as we landed in the courtyard. I blocked a few bullets and used an energy wall to bounce Steve's shield back to him He nodded his thanks.

"I count 10 hostiles." Cap stated as he kneeled on top of one of the trucks.

"I make 8" Sam corrected.

"FIVE!" Alexa and I shouted at the same time.

"Sam!" Wanda yelled as a body came flying towards him.

"Four!" He yelled, dispatching the man quickly.

"Rumlow's on the third floor!" Hannah declared, dropping Aidan on the ground and swooping in to nock another guy off his feet.

"Wanda, just like we practiced." Cap directed, preparing to launch himself.

"What about the gas?" I questioned. Typically we cleared out before going in, but now we didn't have any time.

"You and Spade get it out." He directed as Wanda pushed him into the air and crashing through the window. I felt Rachel at my side, and together, we pulled the gas out and compacted it into one of Beaker's newest inventions, specifically designed for removing gasses. It worked pretty well.

Sam, Aiden and Hannah continued to clear hostiles while Rach and I did civilian safety.

"Rumlow has a biological weapon." A breathless Cap stated.

"I'm on it." Nat's motorcycle could be heard, as it got closer.

"Coming!" Artrix's jolly voice filled the comms. I watched as my Russian/Canadian friend fought of some baddies before opening the hatch that Nat had been stuck under. "Need help?" she grinned, always the playful one.

"No, not from you." Nat gripped her hand and pulled herself out of the truck.

"Admit it, you like me." Lexa jumped down from the truck.

Romanoff chased after her. "Not happening." She told her with a smile.

"Sam, he's in an AMV heading south." Cap stated. Hannah grabbed Alexa, and took off. Rachel was already doing her flying thing. Aiden grabbed my shoulder.

"Ready?" I asked, once again forming the board underneath out feet.

"Oh yeah. " He grinned as we took off. He'd always loved this.

We speed through the market, dodging venders and carts. This was what we lived for; the thrill of the chase, the sense of righteousness, the feel of the wind in out hair. Not power or money or fame. Just…..this.

"I've got six, they're splitting up." Sam stated as he swooped high above us.

"I've got the one on the left." Nat said, but she'd vanished from my sight.

Seconds later, Cap's voice filtered in. "They've ditched their gear."

 _I can't get a lock; too many people too much movement._ Rachel mentally spoke up.

We got to the end of the marketplace, and found no one. "I've come up cold." I sighed and dropped Aidan and I on the ground. A long chase like that could really drain my power if I wasn't fully paying attention to my body. And today, I hadn't. Aidan caught my arm, stopping me from falling to the ground.

"Dude, you need to be careful. " He made sure I was okay before taking out one of his pistols. "I'm not planning on loosing the only wingman I have left any time soon." I smiled at him, before hearing Cap's voice.

"It's a shell game now-"

But he was cut off as Rumlow nocked him off his feet. The two struggled and fought, and Aidan and I just stood there and watched. We could do nothing to help Captain America. But I had spotted something.

"Trickshot, he's wearing a bomb! Aiden, I could stop it if they would just stop moving!" I panicked. I could stop it; I'd practiced defusing bombs so many times with Tony.

Aiden turned to me; his eyes alight with their usual fire. "It's happening. The chips." He lifted his arm to reveal that dangerous glowing chip. It had been inactive for months, only to turn on now. And only on his arm? Something was up. "It's not him." He pointed to Rumlow. "It's her. She's got all the cards she needs." He reached forward and pressed two objects into my hands. "I'm sorry. I can't fight this anymore."

What was happening? I panicked, unsure of what he meant. Then I watched his eyes change.

Bright Blue

To pure darkness.

And I watched, as the only person in the entire world who knew what had happened, as my best friend, companion, wingman and warrior,

Leapt towards Rumlow, knocking him away from Cap.

I sat there and watched my friend,

Pass away from my eyes,

Fly towards the heavens,

Disappear from this life.

i was alone.


	17. Chapter 17

Shatter Me

Everywhere I look, I see him.

The fluffy blanket reminds me of his hugs. My walls are the colors of his eyes. Every single song on the radio reminds me of him. My fingers tingle with his last touch. My hand burns with the last gifts he gave me. My ears ring with his last words.

His stupidly cryptic last words.

I throw the moose he once bought me as a present against the wall. I flop on the bed and it simply stares at me, begging me to bring him back.

And I can't.

The girl who should have died more than once can't do anything. She can't save anyone. She's so stupid and useless.

" _Who made you team leader?"_ Alexa's past words ring in my ears.

" _Trust me, I never wanted this. Go ahead, be team leader. You deserve it more than I do."_ I remember those harsh words I spoke to her. It was the truth. The only reason I was a team leader was blackmail, against him, against me, against us. I wasn't skilled or talented. I was just some girl with powers that were dangerous. I was a mutant, a monster a-

Then, for the second time in my life, I see him; the ghostly Shadow who I danced with once upon a time, when all was right and no one was missing. He's wearing jeans and a hoodie, and he's glowing, just as he always is. He just looks at me, standing there across the room and next thing I know,

He's hugging me.

Neither of us can feel it physically, but somehow I think….

Maybe, somehow, someday, I might get through this.

Shadow stays with me in my room. I think he could leave if he wanted to, but he stays. I take comfort in the fact that we can sit in silence, undisturbed. I sit next to him as I finally look at the things Aidan had handed to me.

The first of the two items is the most precious. It's the black key to the locked box he keeps in his room. It was basically his will in a physical form. He told me it has some very special things in it. He was saving them for something, but he never told me what.

The second is a small deck of miniature cards. I don't bother opening the box, I have a feeling I already know what's inside.

And if I'm right….well, let's just say it's not good.

Not good at all.

Somehow, I find myself sitting outside Aiden's door. I knock several times before I fully realize.

He's not there. He will never answer his door. He will never make me laugh again, he will never eat a sandwich with that silly grin of his, and he will never fire any gun ever again.

He will never ever be.

It hits me, and it hurts me.

Shadow, unable to help me, simply holds my hands. My breathing quickens, and then slows down.

I realize I haven't seen anyone in the compound, or at least I don't remember. I pull myself to my feet as Shadow disappears.

 _I will be brave._

 _I will be strong._

 _I may fear_

 _I may quake_

 _I will not lose heart_

 _I will not faint._

 _I will be brave_

 _I will be strong._

I know where Aiden's special black box is. I'm the only one who does. First of all, you have to know him. He's goofy and crazy. But he's smart. So the box is somewhere NOT goofy or crazy.

The box is in a currently empty dresser drawer. It's in the drawer where his suit used to live. But of course, it's not there anymore.

The wooden box is painted matte black, including the keyhole. I insert the matching black key, and then pull it out.

My hands shake and I drop the box onto the bed like it's a hot coal.

I can't open the box.

He told me to open it when he died, so if I open it…

It means he really is dead.

And I don't

Can't

Won't believe it.

I grab the box, his computer, a sweater from his closet, and a USB stick from the drawer. It used to be mine, so no one will question it. I slip on the sweater, placing the box, and USB in the pockets, and clutching the laptop to my chest.

Without a second look back, I leave the room before my resolve fails. I so desperately want to flop on his bed, sit in his closet, and run my hand over his huge collection of stuffed animals. But I don't.

 _I will be brave._

 _I will be strong._

 _I may fear_

 _I may quake_

 _I will not lose heart_

 _I will not faint._

 _I will be brave_

 _I will be strong._

I will be strong. I am Spark, Team leader of Beta Force. I am a mutant. I am loved. I am strong because my friends need me to be. Because Aiden was. Because he is.

 _I will be strong._


	18. Chapter 18

h3 class="post-title entry-title" style="margin: 0.75em 0px 0px; position: relative; font-weight: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 24px; line-height: normal; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; color: #222222; background-color: #f0eeff;"Tough choices/h3  
div class="post-header" style="line-height: 1.6; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; font-size: 12.6px; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; background-color: #f0eeff;" /div  
div id="post-body-1412341293842934508" class="post-body entry-content" style="width: 910px; font-size: 15.4px; line-height: 1.4; position: relative; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; background-color: #f0eeff;"  
div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;" /div  
span id="docs-internal-guid-7568b573-1d27-3b33-0425-02015c9133dc"br /span  
div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"I passed Steve in his office. Some news station was playing on his computer, but he turned it off when he saw me hanging in the doorway. /span/div  
br /  
div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Hey." Steve gestured for me to come in. He got up and sat down on the small love seat in the corner. I hesitantly joined him. /span/div  
br /  
div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Hi." I mumbled. I wasn't really in the mood to talk, but at this point Steve didn't seem to care. He looped an arm around my shoulder, pulling me close. /span/div  
br /  
div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Look, I…. I grabbed these from the site. They're kind of melted, I don't know if you want them but..." He placed a cool metal object in my hand. He was right, whatever it was, had melted. I looked closer, and I could see it was Aiden's dog tags, the one that he wore all the time. I squeezed my eyes shut, and then for the second time in my life, Cap's arms wrapped round me in a Super Soldier hug. /span/div  
br /  
div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Finally, I pulled back, looking Steve Rogers in the eyes. "Thank you. It means a lot. And no matter what you think, it was never your fault." /span/div  
br /  
div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""How did you…" /span/div  
br /  
div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Trust me, I know what misplaced guilt looks like. I've stared at it in the mirror countless times." I nodded slowly, then stood up and walked over to the door. "Thank you. For everything."/span/div  
br /  
div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;" /div  
div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"I ended up joining Wanda on the bed in her room. I feel asleep on her shoulder to the sounds of the TV. I wasn't tired, but I guess my body just didn't like dealing with things right then. /span/div  
br /  
div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"I woke up to the sound of the TV being turned off, and opened my eyes to see Steve one again in the room. /span/div  
br /  
div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""It's my fault." Wanda whispered, her very words dripping with guilt. /span/div  
br /  
div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Steve leaned against the doorframe. "You know that's not true." /span/div  
br /  
div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Could you turn the TV back on? They're being very specific." /span/div  
br /  
div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Guilt pressed into me from all sides. "I could have stopped the bomb./span/div  
br /  
div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Cap shook his head. "No, I was closer, I should have realized. Rumlow said Bucky and all of a sudden I was a 16-year-old kid again in Brooklyn. People died. Our people died. It's on me."/span/div  
br /  
div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""It's on both of us." Wanda amended./span/div  
br /  
div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""No, it's not your fault! Before he jumped his…" I choked back a sob. "His eyes changed." And they had. Only telepathic people can change someone's eye colour. And we all knew what that meant. /span/div  
br /  
div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"It had been Spade, and no other. /span/div  
br /  
div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Wanda turned to look at me. "You think…." /span/div  
br /  
div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"I shook my head. "No, I know. It was her, it has to be." /span/div  
br /  
div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Cap looked confused. "But Spade's…. I though she and Aiden were….uh, you know." It was now Wanda's turn to look confused. "I thought they were fonduing." /span/div  
br /  
div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Alibi." I stated, wiping my eyes. She's always been unstable, always wanted what she thought was best. She's smart, maybe she knew something was going to happen or…..I don't know. " /span/div  
br /  
div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""I believe you." Wanda stroked my hand. "The day you came out of the shower, all haunted looking at tired. It was her, wasn't it." /span/div  
br /  
div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""I'm pretty sure it was. I just don't understand why."/span/div  
br /  
div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""In this job, we try and save as many lives as we can. Sometimes that means everyone. Other times, it's just one person." Cap sat in-between us on the bed. "We all know what happens in our line of work. Aiden was prepared to make a sacrifice and he did. I'll never forget his sacrifice." /span/div  
br /br /  
div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Ah, five years ago, I had a heart attack. I dropped, right in the middle of my backswing. Turned out it was the best round of my life, because after 13 hours of surgery and a triple by-pass, I found something 40 years in the army had never taught me. Perspective." General Ross paused, letting his words sink into the ears of the assembled teams. Sure, he had perspective, but was it the right one? I had a feeling that this meeting wasn't going to go well, but at least Spade wasn't here to mess with people's heads. /span/div  
br /  
div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" "The world we the avengers an un payable debt. You have fought for us, protected us. Risked your lives. But while a great many people see you as heroes, there are some who prefer the word vigilantes." /span/div  
br /  
div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Nat interrupted his speech smartly. "And what word would you use, Mr. Secretary?" /span/div  
br /  
div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""How about dangerous? What would you call a group of US based, enhanced individuals who routinely ignore sovereign borders and inflict their will wherever they choose, and who, frankly, seem unconcerned what they leave behind."/span/div  
br /  
div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Images began to appear on the screen, footage from different places the Avengers and then later, we had been to. Leviathans descending down on New York, Helicarriers crashing into the Triskelion in Washington, Sokovia flying away from the ear, the burning wreckage of the warehouse incident with Plazma in Illinois, the latest incident in Logos. I glanced away at the last one. I had avoided it so far, and honestly, I wasn't ready to see what had happened. /span/div  
br /  
div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Okay, that's enough." Steve waved at Ross, eyes flickering between the team members. /span/div  
br /  
div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""For the past few years, you've operated with unlimited power and no supervision. That's something the government of the world is not going to tolerate. And I think we have a solution: The Sokovia accords. Approved by 117 countries, it states that the avengers shall no longer be a private organization; instead they will operate under the supervision of a United Nations panel only when and if that panel deems it necessary." Ross then turned to me. "Now for you younger counterparts, this won't affect you, despite pleas from various UN members. According to the Canadian government, you are part of their official special ops Peace keeping initiative designed to protect against possible threats like villains or rogue vigilantes." /span/div  
br /  
div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Alexa, just like Nat, interrupted him, and you could feel the frustration flowing off her. "If you looked at our history you would know that we were formed for 2 reasons: To protect against the Alpha threat of 2014, when Alpha force went rogue due to undercover work. We shouldn't exist anymore, but I'm sure you understand why we do." She glanced pointedly at me. /span/div  
br /  
div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""The Avengers were formed to make the world a safer place. I feel as though we've done that." Steve commented. He was right, because currently, we weren't being overrun by a frost giant or killer robots. /span/div  
br /  
div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Tell me Captain, do you know where Thor and Banner are right now? If I misplaced a couple of 30 megaton nukes you can bet there'd be consequences. Compromise, reassurance. That's how the world works. Believe me, this is the middle ground." Ross explained. /span/div  
br /  
div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""So there are contingencies." Rhodes fiddled with a piece of paper. /span/div  
br /  
div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Ross nodded. "Three days from now, the UN meets in Vienna to ratify the Accords. Talk it over. Beta force, I suggest you end your training period and head back up North till this blows over. " /span/div  
br /  
div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""And if we come to a decision you don't like?" Nat asked, always the thoughtful one. /span/div  
br /  
div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Then you retire." /span/div  
br /span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"I laughed in my head. Did he think it was that easy? Once you'd put on the cape and the boots, they never came off. /span  
div style="clear: both;" /div  
/div  
div class="post-footer" style="line-height: 1.6; margin: 20px -2px 0px; padding: 5px 10px; color: #5c5566; background-color: #e0ddee; border-bottom: 1px solid #eeeeee; font-size: 12.6px; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif;" /div 


	19. Chapter 19

h3 class="post-title entry-title" style="margin: 0.75em 0px 0px; position: relative; font-weight: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 24px; line-height: normal; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; color: #222222; background-color: #f0eeff;"New Homes, Lost Life, and Burning Souls/h3  
div class="post-header" style="line-height: 1.6; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; font-size: 12.6px; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; background-color: #f0eeff;" /div  
div id="post-body-228114804315421257" class="post-body entry-content" style="width: 910px; font-size: 15.4px; line-height: 1.4; position: relative; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; background-color: #f0eeff;"  
div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;" /div  
div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;" /div  
div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;" /div  
div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"So this was it. /span/div  
div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;" /div  
div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"We'd been told by Ross to pack our bags and leave. Whatever was ours, we could take, as long as we were gone within fifteen minutes. /span/div  
div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;" /div  
div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"It had been a rather cold and brisk announcement from General Ross: Beta Force was to be on the Goose in 15, ready to leave. Anything that we couldn't pack would be sent once things had been cleaned up. /span/div  
div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;" /div  
div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"And so, I grabbed my suit, and headed to the place I had called my room. I grabbed only the necessities: My suit, the few winter-worthy clothes I had, my paintings, Aiden's things, my stuffed animals, electronics and makeup. Once everything was in a duffle bag, I turned off the lights in my beautifully decorated but know cold and lonely feeling room. /span/div  
div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;" /div  
div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"With a longing sigh, I slipped from my room into Hannah's. I watched as the placed her model planes (A gift from Steve and Tony) in her bag. When she noticed me leaning in her doorway, she smiled a little, zipping up her fairly full duffle bag. /span/div  
div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;" /div  
div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""So this is it?" Hannah hoisted her bag onto her shoulder. "This is the end of our dream." /span/div  
div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;" /div  
div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Just because one dream didn't work out like we thought doesn't mean we can't ever have another." I replied hopefully, brushing my fingers against the star-covered duvet cover. /span/div  
div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;" /div  
div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"She didn't reply, even though she had heard me. But she didn't need to. For the first time, we had both found a place to call home. A place where we could both be safe. /span/div  
div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;" /div  
div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"We threw our bags by the stairs, then settled down in our living room to wait for the others./span/div  
div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;" /div  
div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Alexa came out first, a small black purse in her hand. "Could I put this in your bag?" She asked, and I nodded. She probably could have survived without that purse, she had been a spy for most of her life. /span/div  
div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;" /div  
div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Caleb closed his door quietly, back pack slung across his back. Jess joined him moments later, mouth seemingly stuck in a frown of distaste. /span/div  
div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;" /div  
div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Where's Rachel?" I asked, realizing I hadn't actually seen her since Lagos. Then again, I had been hiding in my room. Because of hi-/span/div  
div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;" /div  
div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""She left." Jess growled out. "She was heartbroken, and no one helpd her. So she left." /span/div  
div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;" /div  
div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""What?" Confusion and panic settled in the pit of my stomach. If Rachel had left, it meant that she most likely did have a plan. She had to be guilty!/span/div  
div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;" /div  
div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Yeah. Her boyfriend died and no one said a word to her! SHE Left. She couldn't handle it." Jess angrily replied. /span/div  
div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;" /div  
div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Now this was odd. I'd known her even longer than I had known Rachel, and Although we were never close, I still had never seen her this angry before. I had to remember that she and Aiden were also very close, and that she was hurting too. /span/div  
div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;" /div  
div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Look guys, I know this is hard, but unless we try our hardest, our team is going to split. " Alexa stood up, grabbing her bag. "We fell off the horse. Now you have to decide if we are going to get back on it." /span/div  
div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;" /div  
div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""2 Minutes." F.R.I.D.A.Y. announced and we grabbed our bags, rushing down the stairs. On the way out we could hear the Avengers arguing amongst themselves. /span/div  
div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;" /div  
div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Just as we passed by, Steve rushed out of the room, eyes glued to the phone held in his hand. I wanted to stop and help him, but we had no time. /span/div  
div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;" /div  
div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"We passed through the private front door, where Steve's paintings hung. We'd finished all of them just last week. There was a picture of Tony and Pepper, Scarlet and her brother, Peggy Carter, Sam's friend Riley, and Thor's hammer. It had been both fun and emotional helping Steve with his art. /span/div  
div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;" /div  
div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Bag strap biting into my hand, we headed out for the hangar. Jess and I grabbed Hannah and caleb's bag's while they prepped the Goose for takeoff. /span/div  
div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;" /div  
div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"As we left the compound, no chatter filled the jes. Unlike our arrival at Avenger's Base, all was silent. 15 minutes into the 3 hour flight, caleb left the cockpit, secluding himself in the seat behind Jess. The plane felt empty with only four of the ten seats filled. /span/div  
div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;" /div  
div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Needing to stop the silence and my intruding and painful thoughts, I pulled out my music, plugging myself in. /span/div  
div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;" /div  
div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Just know you're not alone, we're going to make this place your home." /span/div  
div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;" /div  
div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Skip. /span/div  
div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;" /div  
div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Who's gonna save the word tonight? Who's gonna bring you back to life?" /span/div  
div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;" /div  
div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Skip. /span/div  
div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;" /div  
div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""For if the dark returns then my brothers will die."/span/div  
div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;" /div  
div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Skip…..or…./span/div  
div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;" /div  
span id="docs-internal-guid-21182f6d-a270-66a8-36fc-bd5a2170d912"/spanbr /  
div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""And I see fire, Hollowing souls…../span/div  
/div 


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